DECEMBER. <5l3 



FATTING BEASTS 



Demand constant attention, as already so often 

 noted ; the effect of acid food in fatting swine, has 

 been long well understood, and it is remarkable that 

 I found it applied in France to fatting bullocks. 



To fatten a pair of good oxen at la Ville Aubrtm, 

 would take 45 cart-loads of raves, a sort of turnip, 

 cut in pieces, and 2O quintals of hay : when the 

 raves are done, they give the flour of rye or other 

 corn, with water enough added to form a paste ; this 

 they leave four or five days to become sour, and 

 then they dilute it with water, thicken it with cut 

 chaff, and give it to the oxen thrice a day : when 

 fed with raves the oxen do not want to drink. 



At Bassie they finish with flour of rye, mixed as 

 before mentioned : they assert that the oxen like it 

 the better for being sour, and that it answers better 

 m fatting them. They eat about a boisseau a day 

 (weighing 22lb.) and never give this acid liquor 

 without chopped hay. It is proper here to remark, 

 that in coming from Paris, we have met a great many 

 droves of these oxen, to the amount, I guess, of 

 from 12 to 150O, and that they were, with few ex- 

 ceptions, very fat ; and considering the season, May, 

 ihe most difficult of the year s they were fatter than 

 oxen are commonly seen in England in the spring. 

 I handled many scores of them, and found them an 

 excellent breed, and very well fattened. 



Limoges. After the raves, give rye paste, as 



described above, but with the addition of a leaven 



R r 3 (levain) 



